Lafourche Parish boys save elderly woman trapped in car

July 28, 2014 at 8:42 AM CDT - Updated July 21 at 12:21 AM

THIBODAUX, LA (WVUE) - A trio of Lafourche Parish boys are being hailed heroes after saving a woman trapped inside a car.

Avery Landry, 13, Wayne Galloway, 12, and Connor Richard, 13, haven't made it to high school yet – but their heroic actions earned them a pretty big award. They were presented with the Meritorious Service Award by Acadian Ambulance Friday.

"Me, Wayne, and Connor went to the pool," recalled Landry. "We were rising our bikes like normal."

"On the way back, we were out on bikes when I heard this tapping," said Richard.

That tapping was Elizabeth Harris. She was parked outside her house when her car locks malfunctioned and trapped her inside.

"I realized unless someone found me, I was going to die in that hot car," said Harris.

Harris put a sign in the window, asking for help and kept waiting. She even tried to break out of the vehicle.

"I couldn't do it," said Harris. "I was evidently too weak by that time to break the windows. I was getting so sleepy."

Harris says she looked out the locked car one last time, and that's when she saw the three boys.

"He turned around, that Richard boy, when he turned around I realized I was going to be saved," she said.

"We dropped our bikes, we all did," said Landry. "Wayne ran to grab his mom. I called police, and Connor stayed with the lady to make sure she was ok."

Harris was in the hot car for almost two hours. By the time a deputy broke the window and paramedics pulled her out, her body temperature was at 104 degrees.

I couldn't imagine being in there for two hours," said Chad Usey, one of the first responders with Acadian Ambulance. "By the time we got her out, she was very sweaty. Her skin temperature was very hot." Usey said the boys saved Harris's life.